The next generation of Apple’s seemingly ubiquitous iPhone is slated for 2017, but Apple seems to have set that device up for a short, quiet life. Leaks – including patent applications – seem to indicate that Apple is going for gold –or more accurately “glass” – when it releases the iPhone 8.

All glass iPhone has nothing to hide

Patent applications filed by Apple describe a device with an all –glass display that pulls double duty as the device’s case. That information is exciting to iPhone owners and prospects, even if studies have shown that nearly a quarter of the devices made between 2007 and 2013 experienced a cracked display screen.

The patent application doesn’t specify which kind of glass the phone factory plans to use for case duty, except to say that the chosen formula would be “chemically strengthened.” It also describes coatings that would make the glass resistant to the Four Horsemen of the Phone Apocalypse: water, fingerprints, glare and scratches.

The patent application has quite a history. The glass iPhone patent was actually submitted in 2011, but was only granted last month. That’s more than twice as long as the average patent application spends under the US Patent and Trademark Office microscope.

The all-glass iPhone – rumored to be the iPhone8 – will include a wrap-around front display, like the Samsung Galaxy Edge, but also a second, curved display on the backside of the device. That extra display real estate makes it impossible to use an aftermarket case on the device – like what current iPhone users favor.

In addition, the glass iPhone patent application describes a device that has virtual function buttons for volume and display control, as well as the Touch-ID fingerprint identification system currently available on the iPhone 6. Although the patent application shows a device with old-style Apple connectors (a throwback to the patent application date), presumably the device would be marketed with the latest connectors available, currently the Lightning port.

We don’t really know what an all-glass iPhone would look like or when it might be available, but we do know that you can do a lot with glass as a decorating surface. Using Glassprimer™ glass paint, you can incorporate glass into both your interior and exterior decorating plans. Glassprimer™ glass paint is highly durable and UV-resistant, which gives it points for both form and function. If you’d like some inspiration for decorating with glass or glass paint, please check out the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .